Eight Days of Waiting
by bloodyrose1294
Summary: Natsume Series Contest. AU, one OC. A psychotic murderer bent on revenge is on the loose. What happens when our favorite pair encounters him? A suspenseful horror filled romance awaits them in the darkness. No character death.


**_A/N: This is an entry to NatsumeSeries Contest. Submission starts on June 21 and ends on July 21. For further information on the contest, contact Vione or Romantically Loveless._**

_Author listened to Sick Puppies: Tri-Polar Album whilst writing this =3_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice. Oh I don't own the movie Taken (that movie scared the beejeezus out of me) either, I just used some ideas from it. The nursery ryhm is something I learned when I was a kid. _**

* * *

_Day 1: Early Morning_

"AGHHH!!! WHERE IS IT?!?!"

Mikan Sakura was meticulously scanning her bathroom faucets for the source of the unvarying dripping noise. Because of the annoyance, she had lost large quantities of valuable sleep. Her lack of sleep had taken a huge toll on her on her morning mind-set; thus, she was tired and cranky.

She woke up early this morning, much to her chagrin, and had a few precious minutes to spare before heading off to work. Taking a quick peek at her black digital watch, she let out a surprised squeak. It was already 8:30am and her boss/ friend, Hotaru Imai, was expecting her to show up at 9am!

"Why must life be so cruel!?!" she cried.

"I guess it just doesn't like you." stated a deep masculine voice.

She attempted to whirl around to face the intruder, but had to be mindful of the walls due to the condensed space of her bathroom. Crimson eyes clashed with honey browns that widened in fright at the sight of the intruder in her bedroom.

On instinct, she grabbed the first thing that she could get her hands on and swung at the figure with all her might. The stature disappeared from her line of vision, only to reappear in the doorframe of her bathroom. There stood a lean sun tanned man with raven hair that framed his stunning eyes.

He was the "epitome of hotness" or so all of her neighbors thought. Sure, he was a… decent looking enigma, but Mikan could see him for what he truly was... an annoying, cruel, heartless man. Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by the said person's deep voice.

"Polka dots, you have got to work on your aim, and I don't think that your toothbrush would really do much damage in the first place."

"Dammit, Natsume" she said with exasperation "Do not break into my apartment, sneak into my room, and scare me out of my wits! What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

This question was soon forgotten, because she was so absorbed in her anger that she reached out to grab another projectile to throw at him. As soon as cool metal meet the warmth of her palm she yanked and attempted to throw it at his head, if only to slightly mar his godly handsome face. However, an audible _crack_ resounded as a shiny object flew with amazing speed towards his head. He ducked once more, causing the object to sail into her adjacent bedroom.

It landed on the white carpet floor with a muted _thud_, just inches away from her four poster wooden bed, clad with a blue flower print bed spread. While staring at the object with amazement, it occurred that said objectile was the handle from her bathroom sink. A pregnant pause slowly ensued as this information was absorbed, but was broken by a smirk from the red eyed lad.

"Wow, I can't believe you had the strength to break that," he leered.

Mikan turned her blazing eyes on him and screeched in frustration, "Great, just great! Someone up there must really have it in for me."

She caught sight of the clock next to her bed and paled, "Oh crap, Hotaru is going to kill me!" Glaring at him as her finger pointed to the door, she continued, "You! Get out of my apartment."

Not wasting any time, she shoved past him as he leisurely made his way to her bedroom door. Oblivious to his penetrating stare, she proceeded to throw on her favorite pair of blue jeans, green converse sneakers, and a pink v-neck t-shirt. It was only after she had pulled her shirt over her head that she finally noticed him. Her face turned many shades of red as she howled, "GET THE HELL OUT YOU SICK PERVERT!!"

He glanced at her with what seemed like the cursory effort of a computer and said, "I've seen better."

Mikan was speechless to his statement and merely stared at him like a fish out of water as he vanished from her doorway. Only when she heard the slam of the door, did she awake from her drunken stupor. After a few long moments, she realized that if she didn't get moving Hotaru would kill her in many severely painful ways, and resurrect her with one of her unique inventions, only to kill her again.

She shuddered at the thought of Hotaru's creations. While they were interesting and efficient, they usually meant a world of pain for the dirty blonde woman. With that thought in mind, she grabbed the handle and set it on top of her dresser before hurrying out of her apartment and headed to work.

..............................

Closing his ruby eyes drearily, Natsume sighed heavily in frustration. After hearing his next door neighbor scream, he had immediately gone on autopilot and broke in. Thank God she was alright, because for a second, pure, white hot fear had flashed through him.

He couldn't be too careless now that he was on the loose. That bastard had somehow escaped, and based on his behavior, he would soon begin to victimize other girls. Just thinking about it made him anxious. This was abnormal for the usually cool Natsume Hyuuga.

Tugging on his jet black hair in desperation, he decided that a trip to the gym with Ruka would help calm himself down. Plus, it would be best to stay in top shape for now. With that thought in mind, he grabbed his cell phone and called his blonde haired friend.

..............................

Somewhere across the city, Mikan sighed in exhaustion. Not only had she lost sleep, but she just had to break her sink this morning, which caused her precious Hotaru to give her the evil eye when she finally got to work. Chibi styled tears flowed down Mikan's heart shaped face as she mixed the batter for another one of her infamous cakes.

Like usual, Hotaru would give her a lecture about how being head chef meant she had to set a good example for the rest of the employees by showing up on time. Becoming a world renowned chef was Mikan's dream come true. Hotaru and her had opened a small, yet quaint place called _La Boulangerie, _after Mikan had graduated from culinary school and Hotaru had graduated with a Master's in Business.

This of course put her cold friend in charge of all the finances of the place. Somehow, the popularity of their store grew to outstanding heights; to the point where they were opening other stores all over the world. Mikan's friend from culinary school, Anna Umenomiya, was helping them manage the places overseas in the U.S.A. All in all, it turned out to be a very profitable business that had started out as a small pastry shop in Japan.

A cool voice broke Mikan out of her reminiscing thoughts, "Mikan, don't add tears into the customer's cake. It'll bring bad business."

Mikan looked up to be face to face with her best friend, Hotaru. She still acted cold and calculating as ever, but always hid her real emotions under her expressionless mask. Her black hair complimented her light complexion and violet colored eyes, that made her appear delicate to many. But, only those who don't know her would ever think that.

"Nani!? I am not crying!"

"Your face looks ugly when you do," retorted the cool woman.

"HOTARU! That's so cruel."

Mikan began to cry again until she heard 'BAKA, BAKA' before she was smacked in the head with a blunt object, a boxer glove. This was one of Hotaru's many machines, this one respectively called "The Baka Gun", which was made especially for Mikan to snap her out of her stupid moments. The impact sent her sailing over the kitchen's table and land on the cold, hard tiled floor.

She then groaned and looked up to see Hotaru, who still brandished the Baka Gun, looking down at her without a trace of remorse. Reluctantly, she stood up to face her friend, leaning heavily on the green wall behind her since the Baka Gun packed quite a punch.

A flash of concern passed across Hotaru's eyes, which would be unnoticed by anyone except Mikan, causing her to smile slightly. At least Hotaru wasn't the actual heartless robot that a lot of people made her out to be.

Hotaru ignored her half smile and questioned her, "Why were you late today?"

Mikan smiled sheepishly while rubbing the back of her neck before saying, "Well, I was up all last night because of this pesky dripping noise, and when I tried to find the source this morning, Natsume broke into my apartment, again. I got really mad and broke my sink in the process of trying to throw something at him."

Hotaru's eyes still remained impassive as ever, but her voice held a note of mirth as she replied, "He broke in again?"

The rhetorical question caused the Mikan to blush scarlet; nevertheless, she said, "Ye-s-s.."

"How many times has it been so far now?"

"A-at least three-e."

"And he has lived next door to you for how long?"

Mikan mumbled incoherent words to the floor of the kitchen, which caused a rare smirk to grace Hotaru's features.

"He's become friendlier since we first meet.... but we're just friends!" Mikan added the last part after catching sight of her smirk. Knowing Hotaru, that smirk didn't mean anything good for her. "Anyways, do you know a good handyman? I need to get someone to come over and fix the sink soon."

"I don't know of one, because I am not as clumsy as some people are. Ask Hyuuga-san to fix it for you." The last statement was said with another devious smirk marring Hotaru's features.

Hastily she retorted, "NOOO! I mean, I will just find someone in the phone book or something. Hehehe."

Hotaru merely said, "Don't take too much time, because you only have a twenty minute break."

"You're so mean!" Mikan cried teasingly. With that, Hotaru made her way up the stairs on the far side of the vast kitchen to her office, which was located above the bakery itself. While Mikan proceeded to her office, which was adjacent to the kitchen.

She had a desk that had pictures of her deceased parents and grandfather. The other pictures layering the violet colored walls were mementos of all the years Hotaru and Mikan have spent together. The desk itself was small and slightly cluttered, which gave it a homey feeling, but she personally thought that her large comfy chair was the best part of the whole room.

She gave a small sound of appreciation as she sat down and pulled out a drawer, which contained the local phone book. Pulling the obnoxiously large thing onto her desk, she began to thumb through the pages in search of the perfect handyman to fix her sink.

………………………..

"You actually broke into her house!?" said Ruka.

"Yeah.." replied Natsume.

The blonde haired man with bright blue eyes stared at his friend with an incredulous expression on his face.

"What did you think was going on when you heard her scream?"

"I don't know… I thought it might have been _him_."

A long heavy silence shrouded the immediate vicinity as he reminisced about some not so pleasant memories. It was finally broken by Ruka when he pressed the stop button on the gym's treadmill; whereas, Natsume kept running to keep the dark thoughts from totally engrossing his mind.

"Ughh they never tell my division _anything._" The blonde complained tartly.

This caused the atmosphere to considerably lighten, and for the twisted thoughts to leave his mind.

"That's because you have the easy stuff, and I'm the one that actually puts my butt on the line," he said with a small smirk stretching across his face.

"True, all I really do is sit behind a computer."

His smirk grew into one of his rare full blown grins as he said, "Ruka, you're a computer nerd."

"Oh shut up."

Abruptly, Natsume's phone began to vibrate in the pocket of his gym shorts. He rolled his eyes, and reluctantly pressed the stop button for the treadmill. After jumping off of the still slowing machine, he opened his phone and greeted, "Hai." While waiting for a response he wondered who in the seven hells wanted to talk to him now.

"Natsume, I need you to come up to the office immediately."

At the sound of the familiar voice, he quickly scanned the scarcely occupied gym before deciding it was safe to respond.

"Why do you need me now, Persona?"

"_He_ has struck again."

"Damn!" His outburst attracted the attention of his curious friend and some of the other fellow members at the gym. He took a breath and tried to recompose his features as to not attract more attention than necessary.

After pausing a few seconds to compose himself, he replied, "And?"

Persona simply stated, "I will explain when you get here, so hurry."

"Got it."

After closing his phone, gathering his towel, and water bottle, Natsume proceeded to leave the gym.

"Natsume!"

He stopped abruptly to turn and face Ruka, who was standing next to the treadmill, looking at him with a questioning look on his face. Knowing what he wanted to ask, Natsume saved him the time and said, "Duty calls."

As soon as he left the building, he quickly treaded on the sidewalk towards his office, knowing that every second he wasted put another life in danger.

……………….

Once Natsume reached the recognizable office building, he sprinted up the stairs to the 33rd floor, not even bothering to take the elevator. Navigating his way around the multitude of desks that littered the staff floor, he made his way towards a large door with a golden plate on it that affirmed this was the office of 'Rei Serio', who was known as Persona by the members of his group.

He sucked in a deep breath before knocking softly. When he heard a faint "come in", Natsume opened the door and strolled into the office. He squinted due to the massive amount of light that came in through a window, from which you could see a vast majority of Tokyo, that made up the wall behind Persons's oak desk. Persona looked up from papers that he had been skimming and motioned for Natsume to sit in one of the two black plush chairs in front of the desk. He inclined his head slightly to decline the offer, and Persona simply shook his head in slight amusement.

"You never sit down when you come in here," Persona commented.

"Hn."

He never liked to sit in the plush chairs because it made him feel vulnerable or some sort of similar odd emotion. He preferred to stand since it made him feel that he could be prepared for any type of news that Persona had to reveal.

"You are aware that _he_ escaped from the national prison, correct?"

Natsume's ruby eyes hardened when he replied, "Yes." He could never forget that man. Everyone thought he was on the brink of insanity, because of his demented ways of torturing his victims. He carved the corpses of his victims into things of horror. When he had been sent to detain him the first time, he saw firsthand the horror of this man's nature.

What was worse was that he did it for cruel sadistic fun. Now that he was out for revenge there was no telling how badly it would end this time around. Just thinking about it made his stomach tighten and fear prick at the back of his neck.

"We aren't quite sure how _he_ escaped yet, but we have one of the CSI divisions taking a look at it. _He_ has been free for approximately seven days, and he has committed another murder already. The few witnesses that we have spoken to say-"

"That _he_ had interaction with the victim for six days before the murder," Natsume finished.

Persona blatantly stared at the young man for a few seconds before continuing, "Ah, so you do remember."

"Of course."

"Good, that takes care of a vast majority of things. I predict _he_ will come after you this time around as well."

"I know, every secret service policeman is expected to have many enemies in their line of duty."

Persona nodded in acknowledgement and continued on to say, "I need you to arrest _him_ before _he_ kills another innocent person."

* * *

_Later that day..._

Mikan slumped against the wall next to her door. After her twenty minute break, there had been massive amounts of orders. It seemed that April was the month to have birthdays, get married, have anniversaries, and the like. Needless to say, she had been busy making every type of dessert imaginable to the human mind; thus, she was very exhausted, and just wanted to crawl into bed.

However, she still had to call the phone number for the handyman that she had found in the phone book. In exaggerated slow motion she pulled out the slip of paper with the number on it and punched it in her pink cell phone. Before she hit the call button Mikan made her way into her small living room to sit on her light blue couch. As the ring tone droned on in her ear, she stared blankly at her moderate sized TV positioned in front of her.

Maybe tonight she could watch a movie, but watching a movie by yourself was always boring. Well, she could always invite Natsume over…. Her eyes widened to the size of plates as she quickly dismissed the notion. The thought of what she told Hotaru earlier that day floated through her mind, _"He's become friendlier since we first meet.... but we're just friends!"_

Friends, right. People invited their close friends over to watch a movie all the time. It would be perfectly normal, but the thought didn't stop a blush from decorating her cheeks. The sound of someone talking broke her train of thought.

A masculine voice said, _"Hello?" _For a moment a spasm of fear ran down her spine for an unknown reason. Even though he sounded friendly, it was like a deadly kind of cheerfulness, not genuine at all. More like the twisted type of happiness. Realizing that the man had gone quiet, Mikan quickly looked at the paper for his name before speaking.

"Hello?? I'm sorry!! I was calling for… Mr. Atsushi?" she said.

A long pause ensued before the man replied, _"Yes that's me."_

"Oh! Good! I was afraid I had the wrong number! I saw your add in the phonebook, and I was wondering if you could come fix my sink that I accidentally broke.."

Another very long pause followed before Mr. Atsushi said, _"Ah, yes. I just need your address and phone number."_

Mikan gladly rattled off the address, number of her apartment, and her phone number to him. After they set up a time for him to come tomorrow, she bid him goodbye and ended the call. Staring at her phone, she idly wondered if all workmen sounded that creepy, but then shook it off as a stereo typical thought. He seemed like a nice man, and he had been very courteous.

Even with that thought in mind she still couldn't shake off the fear. She then proceeded to her kitchen to cook a small meal for dinner. Then she planned to walk five steps over to Natsume's, and see if he wanted to watch a movie with her.

………………..

A man stood in the alleyway next to a dead body. He was was hidden in the shadows of the alley as he rummaged through the dead man's pockets. A dark blue cap further shadowed his face from prying eyes, but gave him a sinister look. Finding what he wanted, he smiled wickedly. He had found new prey. Now the wonderful game of fear could begin again.

* * *

_Day Two_

The cool wind pricked at Mikan's eyes and blew her hair, which was in a ponytail, behind her as she ran to her apartment. She was running from work, which happened to be about five blocks away from her home, early so that she could let in the Mr. Atsushi to her apartment. She increased her speed due to the fact that he would be there any moment now.

Her concentration on running was so focused that she failed to notice a jet black Porsche following her. After a few intense minutes of running she stopped to take a break, only then did she notice the sporty looking car.

The Porsche pulled up along side the curb where Mikan now stood stock still in curiosity about why this car had been following her for Kami knew how long. The tinted window rolled down to reveal the face of none other than Natsume. He looked dashing in faded jeans and a blood red t-shirt that clung to all the right, or wrong places. His blood red eyes seemed to peer into her soul, which made her feel very bare, despite being dressed in a flowing knee length skirt and a white tank top. It caused her to blush something furious as she recalled last night.

……………_._

_They had watched The Hangover, and had been laughing throughout the entire movie. Mikan had been worried he would say no to her movie idea, but he had smirked and said, "Only if I can bring my own movie polka dots." She couldn't quite understand this strange feeling that gripped her heart when she saw him, and it made her agree to his request. _

_Now that the movie had ended, they sat on her couch in comfortable silence. Deciding she had been sitting there long enough, Mikan grabbed the large bowl of leftover popcorn and started to walk towards the kitchen, but his voice stopped her, "Who are the pictures of on the wall?" She smiled sadly as she sat back down on the couch with the bowl in her lap. _

"_Those are some of the few pictures that I have of my deceased family."_

"_I'm sorry."_

"_It's okay, I know they are in a better place now…"_

_A deafening silence reined the room as each pondered on different things. For Mikan, she was reliving the day she had found out her parents had died in a car accident. She should have been in the car with them, but earlier that day she had a argument with her parents over something stupid. In retaliation she had refused to go with them on their pre-planned trip to the beach. _

_Her parents had just sighed and left her with her grandfather. Never in her nine year old mind had she expected them to not come back. The turn of events had been when her grandfather took her in. He would always spend the anniversary of her parent's death with her, supported her in every way, and became a very important figure in her life. His death, when she was seventeen, affected her even worse than her parents had. _

_From that point on she was pretty much alone with the sole exception of Hotaru, who stuck by her through thick and thin. Just thinking about all the deaths that occurred during her life time made her sink into a slight mood depression, but a strong masculine voice broke her out of her bleak mood._

"_I can understand how you feel," he said. This didn't surprise her. Many expressed condolences and would say how they could imagine how painful it must be. It made her want to scream at them that it was suffocating, and they could never understand. _

_She really hadn't expected anything less from him, but for some reason a bitter taste filled her mouth as she listened to his stereotypical statement. However, she was surprised when he continued to explain the reason he provided behind it._

"_My parents and sister died in a fire when I was just a kid." A cruel, painful smile adorned his face as he said, "I should have been with them, but that day I had been at a friend's house only to come home to see the place ablaze, leaving me unable to anything." _

_His expression tore at her heart and reminded her so much of how she looked when trying to shoulder the blame of accidental deaths. She had her grandfather there to sternly tell her it wasn't her fault and that her parents wouldn't want her to blame herself. Acting on impulse she reached out and pulled him into a hug. He became rigid, but didn't reject her as she hugged him tightly to herself. _

"_It wasn't your fault," she whispered to him softly._

_At that he sagged into her, allowing himself to bury his face in the junction between her neck and shoulder. They sat there in that position for a long time, being there for each other as they relived their painful past. After what seemed short of an eternity, Natsume pulled away. _

_The places where his warmth had touched her disappeared, causing her to feel cold and abandoned. She shivered slightly and gripped her arms as to not alert him the affect he had on her. Mikan didn't have time to think about that because he began to speak once again._

"_Mikan, for right now please be careful."_

_She looked at him with an incredulous look adorning her face as she said, "Why?"_

_He heaved a heavy sigh and only replied, "Promise me."_

_For a heartbeat or two she sat there staring at him, trying to figure out the mystery that was Natsume. Finally she resigned herself and said, "Ok. I promise."_

……………_.._

Reality came crashing back down on her, when his voice spoke over the loud volumes of the city, "Need a ride?"

She blinked at him, once, twice before getting in his sleek car, trying to convince herself that she got in the car so that she wouldn't be late. Although she was failing at lying to her heart, somewhere deep inside of her knew that she got in the car to get in to be close to him.

She said in resignation, "Sure. Can you get me back to the apartment? I have a guy coming to fix my sink."

He gave a nod as his response and motioned for her to get in the car. Once she had relaxed into the black leather, he said, "Nice panda underwear."

Her face proceeded to turn many different interesting shades of red. She completely forgot about last night and the strange feeling he caused her as she looked at him with disgust. Her honey colored eyes crackled with anger as she shrieked, "PERVERT!!! Let me out of this car NOW!"

His ruby eyes sparked with humor as he replied, "Too late." With that he hit the gas, and speed towards their apartment complex.

………………..

Mikan was relieved to find out that Mr. Atsushi hadn't arrived yet. She jumped ten feet in the air when she felt someone's breath on the back of her neck.

"So who are you expecting?" asked the mysterious neck breather. She turned around to see Natsume. He was leaning against her door, smirking slightly at her slightly angered face.

The smirk drove her to not snap at him, but to reply, "That's none of your business." She opened the door to her home and walked in, only to have him follow her.

"It is my business because we are neighbors," he said cockily.

Grinding her teeth in frustration, she tried to calm herself. How could he look so at ease in her personal space, the apartment, like a graceful jungle cat!? And why did he have to look so damnably smug all the time!? It was enough to drive her up the wall and out a window.

"Could you please leave?"

"No."

Counting to ten in her head, she closed her eyes and prayed by the time she opened them that he would be gone. However, fate wasn't smiling on her today, since he appeared to not have moved an inch after her "meditation" session.

"Why?"

"Because I enjoy annoying you Ms. Panda."

Mikan cursed him and all of his ancestors to hell. She knew that she shouldn't have worn a skirt to work today, but she couldn't help it. It was a female's nature to want to wear skirts. A knock sounded on her closed apartment door, which silenced any attempt she had at a witty comeback.

Feeling feed up, she opened the door to silence the insistent knocking. She wasn't prepared for who she saw standing in the hallway. The man had brilliant blond hair and deep blue eyes. He had a friendly looking face, and appeared to be well built despite wearing baggy blue pants coupled with a tight white shirt. He held a tool kit in one hand and gloves in the other.

She vaguely realized that this was Mr. Atsushi, but was struck speechless that he actually was a good looking man. Sure, he didn't stand a chance against Natsume in her opinion, although she hadn't expected him to be around her age.

He smiled pleasantly at her and asked, "Are you Ms. Sakura-san?"

It took her a few minutes to respond, "Yes-s."

"I'm Mr. Takeshi Atsushi."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Atsushi, umm.. I'll show you what I need fixed."

"Call me Takeshi! Mr. Atsushi makes me feel so old."

"Alright Takeshi-san. Oh! This is my neighbor, Natsume."

For a split second Mikan thought she saw malice flash across Takeshi's eyes as he observed Natsume, but it disappeared a second later, leaving her wondering if she was imagining things. Natsume frowned at Takeshi in suspicious retaliation. Takeshi strode over to him and held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Natsume-san," he said. Natsume reluctantly shook the hand he offered. He stared at him as if he was criminal under suspicion for a crime; whereas, the other smiled pleasantly at him. Mikan didn't know why, but even though this guy seemed very pleasant he gave off a dark aura.

His smile, no matter how innocent, looked like it contained malice. She knew you couldn't judge a person when you only met them ten seconds ago, but she couldn't shake this feeling away easily. She turned away from the two men standing in the hallway of her apartment and headed towards her room while calling for Takeshi.

A sense of foreboding pooled in her stomach as fear traced its sharp nails down her spine. Something was off, but for now she would put it off as irrational feelings that would disappear with time. Little did she know that the handyman followed her to her room with his creepy smile still gracing his features.

…………………..

Natsume's brow furrowed as he watched the two people walk towards Mikan's bathroom. He knew the handyman, that much he was sure of, but the question was from where? The man set of his uncanny sixth sense for spotting a criminal. His instinct told him that this man was very dangerous, and to stay away.

Persona was right. He needed to keep his guard up if he wanted to catch _him_ again. If his instincts said this man was a criminal, he needed to stay around to protect Mikan, who had somehow wormed her way into his heart.

It was bad that she had become close to him, because it made her his one weakness. He couldn't allow her to come any closer than she had last night. His parent's death had always been a touchy subject that he didn't discuss to anyone, let alone Ruka. But he felt a need to tell her, someone who could easily understand and share in his pain. Shaking his head quickly, he tried to rid himself of those thoughts. He would just stay here to find out if this guy was actually a criminal or something.

While he was at it he could call Persona to have him forward files about different criminals that he had come in contact with. What Natsume didn't realize that a small part of him wanted to stay here to protect her from any harm that she could befall. Even if he didn't realize it now, he certainly would be able to name this emotion in the near future.

* * *

_Day Three_

_Day Four_

_Day Five_

_Day Six_

"Hey can you come over again?"

"….."

"Please Natsume?"

"Is he coming again?"

"……. Yes, he gives me the creeps so can you please just come over while he's here!?"

"Okay."

Mikan sagged against Natsume's door with relief. Ever since the day Takeshi had fixed her sink, things in her house began to break; thus, he came over almost every day. After the second or third time something else mysteriously broke, she became suspicious of the handyman and tried to avoid being alone with him. He even fixed everything at a cheap price, but it still perturbed her greatly.

It had occurred to her that he might be the one breaking things as an excuse to come back. This frightened her greatly, but she didn't dare tell anyone about her misgivings, knowing they would be brushed off as silly. Her solution? Every time the handyman came over, she made sure Natsume was there with her to supervise. Natsume never did complain about her dragging him out of his apartment midday and forcing him to sit with her in the living while Takeshi "fixed" whatever was wrong.

Thinking about it now, she thought it was weird that Natsume always seemed to be home. She had never asked what he did, so she assumed he had a job that let him work out of his house; however, there had been times that he was gone for an extended period of time.

She chalked it up to business trips as to push the matter out of her head to focus on the situation at hand. They had made their way to her apartment, where they were lounging on her couch, waiting for the inevitable appearance of Takeshi.

The sound of knocking cut through the anticipating silence. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the door and smiled at the man before her. He wore the same clothes every day, but managed to smell clean.

The handyman then smiled that same creepy smile at her before saying, "Good afternoon, Mikan-san."

She cringed at his usage of her name. He was polite, but underneath it he had a faint mocking tone that she had come to identify over the last few days. His mockery in his voice and smile made the sharp nails of fear trail all over her body. She tried not to show it, but she got the feeling he knew, which bothered her.

"Good afternoon, do you need me to show you where-"

"Nope, I know where it is."

He took notice of Natsume sitting on the living room couch and nodded slightly to him before going to the kitchen, where a pipe had broken yesterday. Mikan made her way back to the couch to sit with Natsume until Takeshi finished. As soon as he was done, she moved to get her purse to pay him, yet again, for "fixing" something.

This time instead of waiting, he moved towards the door and said, "I have to be going home early, because I have to take care of my cousin, who came to visit. I will come back tomorrow to pick up my pay. Thank you Mikan-san!"

The front door clicked shut to signify that he had indeed left the vicinity. She sighed in exasperation. She really didn't want to see him again tomorrow on her day off, Sunday.

Hotaru had been upset that she had only been working half days this whole week, so of course she would have to stay late next week to make up for it.

Looking over at Natsume she asked, "Can you co-" He answered her question before she could finish.

"Yeah I will."

She gave him a brilliant smile, and said, "I'll cook you dinner again as a thank you."

He grunted to give his consent. She had been cooking him dinner for the past week as a way of apology for pulling him out of his apartment at random to be with her while Takeshi was there.

She idly commented, "Maybe I'll cook again tomorrow…"

"Definitely," he replied with a rare grin on his face.

Mikan beamed and went back to chopping tomatoes for their salad.

* * *

_Day Seven_

Mikan turned on her side to face her bedroom window. It was now approximately 11:30PM, according to her digital alarm clock on her bedside table. Groaning, she opted to stare out the window and at the city. The view from her window was stunning because she could see enough of the city to feel secure and the sky to feel a sense of freedom.

She found that the moon was full in the black velvet sky. The brightness from the city lights were a good rival for brightness, but mother nature always wins. Idly she recalled that her mother had taught her a simple child song about the moon when she was very little.

It had been many years since she had last sang it, and now she rummaged her memory for the tune. If she recalled correctly, the tune it went by was cheerful and sad woven into one. Staring at the moon, the song came back to her, so she sang.

_I see the moon_

_And the moon sees me_

_The moon sees the one that I want to see_

_God bless the moon _

_And God bless me_

_God bless the one that I want to see._

She found herself blushing about how the moon saw the one she wanted to see. Never did she expect to find someone she wanted to settle down and live with for the rest of her life. As always, she was oblivious to her growing feelings for her red eyed next door neighbor. He didn't come over today, because Takeshi had never shown up.

Mikan had found it weird at first. After awhile, she rejoiced at the prospect of not seeing the handyman ever again, yet she was disappointed that she didn't have a valid reason for Natsume to come over.

You win some and you lose some she figured. After letting her thoughts roam for a few minutes, Mikan drifted on the edge of sleep. Not quite submerged in a deep sleep yet, but awake enough to hear what was going on around her. All that she could hear now was the sound of her heart beat and breathing pattern. It was peaceful, which nudged her towards unconsciousness faster. A soft click had her senses on high alert.

It had sounded like someone had opened the door to her apartment. When she heard nothing else, she brushed it off as her overactive imagination. Deciding that sleep would do her good, Mikan closed her eyes firmly and tried to lay still. A squeak resounded throughout the apartment, which made her eyes snap open. Maybe it had just been a mouse? When she heard foot falls padding across her carpeted floor, she knew that someone was in her home. The question was who?

No one had a key to her apartment except for Hotaru, although it couldn't be her because she had a date with the charming Ruka. Knowing those two, they would be passed out at his place. The only other person she could think of was Natsume, but he broke into her house, and didn't even have a key. Plus, if he did break in he didn't do it unless he thought she was in trouble. There was only one other possibility... It had to be a burglar.

She didn't realize that the person who had broken in was unfortunately anything but. Her heartbeat came fast, and fear wrapped it's icy hands around her throat causing her breathing to became shallow at the thought of facing a robber.

Her brain was working a mile a minute as multiple plans ran through her head before she dismissed each, deeming that they were either to risky or loud. The muted footsteps were getting closer by the second. Whoever it was sounded as if they were familiar with the layout of her apartment, which meant she would have less time to set a plan into motion. She glanced around frantically, looking for some sort of weapon.

The only potential weapon was her alarm clock, for now it would have to do until she thought of something else. Silently, she climbed out of her four poster bed and scanned the room for a spot to hide. She couldn't hide in her bathroom it was too loud, or under her bed because the covers weren't long enough to hide her from prying eyes. When her eyes landed on her sliding door closet, realization hit her like lightening. She grabbed the alarm clock, but as she did so her eyes landed on her pink cell phone.

She could call for help! As quietly as possible she slid the closet open, shutting it just as quietly. The darkness in her closet swallowed her whole, making her unable to see anything. She scooted back into the clothes that were hanging until her hands made contact with the wall. A shoe rack that she stepped behind hid her lower body from view.

Hurriedly, she pulled out her cellphone, calling Natsume. Putting it quite frankly, he lived right next door and seemed to be the type that worked out a lot; therefor, he could most likely kick this guy's ass in five minutes flat before anything bad happened. Just as Natsume answered his cellphone with a sleepy, "_Hello_?" the person walked into her room.

She held her breath and set the phone down close to the sliding door so if she was found he could hear her scream for her life, and come over to help. The alarm clock was still in her hand, which she had a vice like grip on it. The footsteps slowed as they entered her room. Her most basic instincts were standing on end, and she could sense every sound, touch, and movement made in the room.

Silence reigned for what seemed like centuries, which made Mikan press a hand to her mouth to kept herself quiet. It felt like she was breathing too loudly, or that her heartbeat could be heard. Silent tears began to coarse down her face. Never before had she been so afraid in her life.

A dry hand squeezed her lungs, cold sweat dripped down her back making her shiver, and fear was almost a tangible thing now. The sound of cloth being ripped, glass shattering, and other miscellaneous noises exploded from her room.

Whoever was in there was making a mess, but she would be damned if she had to pick it all up herself when she got out of this closet. More like _if_ she ever got out of the closet. As abruptly as it had started, the noise stopped. For a second she prayed that they had left, but no such luck. She almost screamed when the sliding door was thrown open with a _crack_.

Then clothes were being ripped off their hangers and thrown to the side, which caused her hiding spot to be ruined. Stormy blue eyes clashed with honey brown. Then she did the only thing she could think of, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

..............................

Natsume had been really pissed to be woken up at such an obnoxious time. He checked his caller ID to see it was Mikan; however, he was greeted by a long stretch of silence. Hearing things being shattered a few moments, he started to listen as to get a clue why she was calling him. To have a mental breakdown on the phone?

Then he heard her scream. Nothing ever scared Natsume Hyuuga. Ever. Hearing her scream? The mot terrifying thing for the red eyed lad. Immediately, he grabbed his secret service gear before dashing to her door. He could faintly make out more screams through the thin walling of his apartment, which caused him to run faster. Fury flowed in his blood, and helped him to kick down her door in one powerful kick. All he could see was red with one thought in mind: Mikan.

...............................

All Mikan knew was that she was in pain. She could feel it from the tips of her fingers to the soles of her feet. The alarm clock idea hadn't been the best idea in the world after all. After she saw those eyes, she screamed as to alert Natsume of her distress. She prayed to Kami that he would come, and then she chunked her huge ass alarm clock at the goon's head.

The man had ducked quickly, so she didn't have a chance to see his features. In the next second her head had cracked against her window. Glass had embedded itself in her head, causing her to scream again. Then, in a split second she had become airborne. She idly wondered what was going on before she cracked her skull against the wall, which pushed the pieces of glass deeper into her head.

She crumpled to the floor from the amount of pain her head exerted. Her eyesight became blurry so she couldn't make out anything except for blobs. One of the smudges of color moved at her with alarming speed, so she had feebly attempted to lift her hands to protect herself. All she felt was a sickening crunch in her chest cavity and a crack from one of her legs, that's when the pain truly began to set in. Now every particle of her body felt battered and bruised.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth from her split lip. She couldn't hold on much longer now. God how she hoped Natsume would help her, and if she didn't she would haunt for the rest of his life. With that thought in mind, she tumbled over the edge to the welcomed embrace of unconsciousness.

................................

When he enter Mikan's room, he was greeted with the sight of disaster. Glass was everywhere on the floor, clothes flung hazardously, and the closet door was nearly ripped off it's hinges. Feathers from pillows floated around the room, creating a white christmas, but a dark red tinge drove all thought of white from his head.

Blood decorated the wall where Mikan was slumped against, and it soaked the white carpet floor. Forever tainting it with the memory of this horrible night. He couldn't look at her without feeling the need to barf. Dragging his eyes away from her prone form he glared at the man who was the cause of it all.

"Ryou Shin, not Takeshi Atsushi," he said.

The blonde haired man looked up at him with a sadistic smile decorating his face, and hatred to seep from his blue eyes.

"Amazing what bleaching my hair does. No one, not even you, the great Natsume Hyuuga, could recognize me, " he replied.

"Why the hell are you here?!"

"Ohh Natsume that's so cruel. I just broke out of a prison that _you_ sent me to and I don't even get a welcome back? How rude."

"You asshole! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

"Isn't it obvious? For revenge. Revenge for locking me away and leaving me to rot in that forsaken place. I am getting it by killing the woman you love."

Natsume absolutely seethed in anger and frustration. "You touch her and you die."

"Seems you have lost your touch. What happened to the cold attitude when I killed one of your comrades? I have to say it will be so much fun to torture her in front of you now that I can get a reaction out of the ever stoic Natsume."

"YOU BASTARD!"

"Language, language. Don't use such foul words in front of ladies. Well half-dead ladies."

Ryou a.k.a Takeshi pulled out a kitchen knife from it's protective covering. He turned it and watched with the attentiveness of a five year old as the moonlight reflected off of it.

"I'm going to kill her so she won't be half-dead for long. She will be dead this time, and you will be left to live on with life crushing guilt that you weren't strong enought to save her in time," said Ryou.

With that he leaned down to slit her throat to finish the deed, but he had made one grave mistake. Ryou had underestimated him, again. Quick as lightening, Natsume pulled out his gun that he had grabbed on his way out and fired off four shots quick as a flash. Two to the head, one to the chest, and another to the hand with the knife. The blows to his head were deadly and accurate, resulting in instant death.

* * *

_Day Eight: Late Afternoon_

Mikan woke up to a dull throbbing pain on the right side of her head. She winced, and attempted to rub the accursed spot, but a strong calloused hand restricted her movements.

"Don't touch your head, doctor's orders polka dots," Natsume said.

"Ughh... What happened to me?"

"You have a concussion, broken leg, two broken ribs, and a crack in you skull."

Her breath left her in a slight rush as she said,"Well doesn't that _suck_."

He said so quietly that she almost didn't hear him, "You are lucky to be alive."

Immediately she was curious and she asked, "Why?"

She cracked open one eye, and was greeted with the glow of sunlight from a window on her left. Opening the other she was able to see his reaction, which was confused. He thought she hadn't heard him, so his expression changed to one of resignation.

"Do you remember what happened last night?"

She almost started to shake her head as a 'no', but stopped. Closing her eyes, she concentrated to remember what happened. It felt like she was trying to open a rusty door, and that it only needed one more pull before coming free. She gave one more mental tug, and memories swarmed her brain.

The moon, closet, cell phone, and most of all the mental images was one conveyed through meaning, pain. It had been a normal night until someone had broken into her house, destroyed her room, attacked her, and--.

"Wait, who the heck was that anyway?"

Natsume sighed heavily and reluctantly said, "His name was Ryou Shin, but you knew him as Takeshi Atsushi."

She let this sink in for one, two, three seconds before screaming, "WHAT?!"

It turned out not to be a good idea to scream since the pain in her head began to increase drastically. She let out a shaky breath before saying, "Explain everything to me."

"First, you need to know that... I am in the secret service for the police. They call me a Preventer, because I prevent a lot of bad stuff from happening. The guy who attacked you was one of the men I arrested. He was a psychotic killer who murdered for the joy of it. He had a series of habits that earned him the nickname 'The Devil' from his 666 signature that he would leave on the back of his victims. Over the span of six days he would get to know his victim and then kill them. When the senior chief of police went to the scene of one of his victim's he lost his lunch, which goes to prove he was a brutal killer. No one had been able to catch him for a long time, so it was left to the Preventers to eliminate him. That job was given to me."

His eyes took on a pained look that tore at her heart before he continued, "He thought he was too good to be caught, but truth be told I have dealt with many dangerous men and it was too easy to catch him. I got him locked up in the nation's top notch jail, but he escaped fourteen days ago. He had already killed one girl, although his real goal was me. He hated me. When he first showed up as the handyman, I didn't recognize him, but I realized who he was too late. After he watched us for a couple days, he decided that it wold be better to kill you rather than me...."

"Why?"

The look on his face was smoldering and made her lose herself in the depths of his crimson filled eyes. They stayed like that for a few minutes, lost in the gaze of the other person before them.

His eyes conveyed multiple emotions to her: worry about her condition, anger that he didn't do anything sooner, and love. The last emotion shocked her to the core, and made a warm sensation curl in her stomach. She was so lost in his essence that she almost missed his soft whispered confession.

"Mikan, he wanted to kill you because I love you. I don't ever let anyone into my heart, although anyone with eyes can tell that I am completely infatuated with you," he said.

For a few minutes she sat there shell shocked. She honestly didn't know what to say, because she had finally figured out what this strange, new feeling was in her gut. It was love. She supposed she had loved him ever since they first met when he had moved in.

Realizing that Natsume was awaiting an answer from her, she smiled softly at him before saying, "Natsume, I love you too."

His expression was one of great amazement, which caused her to chuckle. Seeing that different look on his face was just too funny. He looked rather like a kid who had been told that they made a 100 on their test.

This thought just caused her laughter to overflow, and soon she was gripping her stomach while tears began to leak out of her eyes. Natsume had come out of his stupor and merely smirked at her before placing his hands on either side of her face on the bed. His presence brought her out of her fit of giggles and she stared at him with a blush dusting her cheeks.

"You look as red as a tomato polka dots," he said.

She turned ten shades redder while trying to formulate some sort of reply, but was unable to do so when his hungry lips descended onto hers. This kiss was hungry and passionate. He took advantage of her surprised gasp to explore her mouth. Their tongues were soon intertwined and battled for dominance in their heated kiss. She arched to mold herself with his muscular body, which caused them to mold into one being, becoming impossible to tell where one started and the other ended. They broke away no more than a hairs length from each other to suck in air to their lungs greedily.

With lips bruised from their passionate kiss she said in a soft voice, "That was worth eight days of stress."

Natsume simply grinned and replied huskily, "We should do this more often."

Before she could even laugh, he claimed her lips and her heart.

**_FIN_**

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**A/N: ** There!! I managed to (barely) turn this in on time!!

**_IMPORTANT NOTICE:_** This one-shot is in a contest so review, which are like votes I suppose, if you liked the story :D

Now excuse me while I go pass out on my bed :P


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